Meet Lujan Candria: Visual artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lujan Candria and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lujan, how do you think about risk?
Many of the decisions we make in our lives involve risk. When we step out of our comfort zone we assume the risk of making mistakes, of losing opportunities or getting frustrated. What I like to keep in mind is that even if the results are not as I expected, there’s always valuable growth coming out of the experience. And well, when you take your chances on something and then the risk turns into an achieved goal, the satisfaction is absolute. Without a doubt, one of the biggest risks I took over the last years was leaving my country. Coming to live to Miami meant leaving my loved ones, my studio, and my artistic community behind. Miami was a city unknown to me and I was unknown to Miami. It was definitely a hinge moment in my life as I had to start from scratch all over again. The experience of being an immigrant is unimaginable beforehand. It was a leap into the void that enriched me deeply, although it was not always easy to transit. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I graduated in sculpture and worked for a long time using assemblage, painting and glass as a media, but research and experimentation has always been a constant in me. It was during one of my process of exploration that I started working with video, sound and photography. In my current work, I explore different landscapes and use them as main subjects. Each one of them will look familiar to us, but not because we can visually recognize them. They will look familiar to us because of all the feelings that will arise within ourselves which appear to be linked to landscapes that are signified in our memory. In the creative process I intervene the photographic images. I juxtapose them, multiply them and fragment them. Like images captured in a blink of an eye, the world of our memories unfolds in each photograph. As it happens with many of our memories that become blurry over time and then return to us as incomplete narrations, the sharpest images get mixed with the more diffuse ones until they turn into almost imperceptible forms or even completely disappear to become a simple plain color.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The itinerary would surely include a visit to Miami’s most prominent art spaces, galleries and museums: Locust Project, Rubell Museum, The Margulies Collection, ICA and PAMM. We would also take a walk through Wynwood and Design District. When it comes to food, some favorite spots easily come to my mind. Where we would go to brunch? All Day. Where to have lunch or dinner? Mandolin, Vista or Orilla. Where to have some drinks while listening to live music? Lagniappe and The Chat Noir.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I could not be where I am today without the support and love of all the people who always believed in me and continues to believe in my work. I’m immensely grateful to my friends, colleagues, teachers, collectors, and gallery owners. And to my life partner. I would like to specially thank two organizations in Miami: Oolite Arts (former ArtCenter), that at the beginning of my life in Miami accepted me as a resident and gave me a workspace that helped me connect with the local artistic community, and to Locust Project for all the support they constantly provide to the art community.

Website: lujancandria.com
Instagram: @lujancandria
Linkedin: Lujan Candria
Twitter: lujancandria
Facebook: Lujan Candria